Follow the leader on the Rochdale Canal.

Ready for the Assault on the Summit.

6 Locks, 1 Mile. Now moored before Lock 33.

Walsden church and school. The latter being closed and boarded up.

After some discussion with John on Nb Epiphany it was decided to move up to lock 33 today instead of Sunday. The moorings at Walsden were OK but where we are now is a great improvement. While locking up out of Walsden at about 9.30am there was a cacophony of sirens passing through the town. We counted 5 Police cars, an ambulance and an ambulance rescue vehicle.  Shortly after this a Yorkshire Air Ambulance helicopter flew over.

Lock 31 Rochdale Canal. The lock is too close to the bridge for balance beam so they have fitted this ratchet arrangement.

Found in the backyard of a house in Walsden. Mint condition and still useable with a horse.

After we had arrived at lock 33 and had some lunch we decided to go for a walk. Out on the main road there was long queue of cars which we followed to see what the problem was. It transpired that it was a car accident to which all the sirens had been racing to this morning. This was now 3pm and they were only just moving the damaged cars. Talking to a local lady who was apparently first on the scene it appears that one car had been overtaking on a perfectly straight stretch of road at possibly double the legal speed limit, lost control hitting another car head on, wiping out a street light and wrapping the car around a tree. When she got to the car the driver was unconscious and being strangled by his seat belt. With the help of another bystander they managed to release the seat belt but it transpired that he had a punctured lung. The injured parties had been air lifted away quite some time earlier.

Toll house on the old Tormorden Turnpike road. The house is a listed building. The toll road is now closed due to subsidence caused by a fire in the railway tunnel in 1984.

What is this bridge's purpose?

Is it  castle, is it a fort?

1905 locks, 3791 miles, 70 tunnels, 127 swing bridges and 53 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Walsden

10 Locks, 1½ Miles. Now moored above lock 27 Walsden.

It was an early start this morning to allow time for John on Nb Epiphany to be able to travel to Huddersfield this afternoon. We initially travelled up through one lock to the facilities block for water and rubbish disposal etc; before setting off in earnest.

The Great Wall of Tod(morden). Note the height, Nb Epiphany in front

Lock 23 looking back over lock 22 Gauxholme Lock and the railway viaduct.

We had been doing quite well up to lock 22 when we got a visitor in the form of Paul Balmer from Waterways Routes the producer of the waterway routes DVD’s.  Paul was on his way back to Bristol from York and he knew we would be on the move today so he decided to pay us a visit and give us a helping hand. Well that was quite a deviation but with Paul’s help we were in Walsden in no time at all. The only delay was at lock 26 which, due to subsidence is only one boat at a time and we met BW with a working boat heading back to Sowerby Bridge at the same point.

Paul letting water in to fill the lock.

After mooring up the least we could do was offer Paul some lunch before he headed back to the station to resume his travels. As we are very close to Grandma Pollards fish & chips shop which has a very high reputation in the area, this was the obvious choice. Once again a very big thank you to Paul for his help today.

Finest Fish & Chips in the district. Looks like Grandma has taken over Quebec St.

1899 locks, 3790 miles, 70 tunnels, 127 swing bridges and 53 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Halifax

Another good day for sight seeing saw us on the bus from Todmorden (pronounced Tod ma dean) to Halifax renowned for it’s architectural designed buildings. The Town Hall is a 19th century grade II listed building and a classic example of the architect Charles Barry who also re-designed the Houses of Parliament. The Town Hall was a masterpiece with it’s stained glass dome over the central auditorium and tiled flooring.

The spire of Halifax Town Hall.Glass ceiling dome in the Halifax town hall main auditorium.The balcony around the main auditorium of Halifax Town Hall.  They don't make them like this any more.

The biggest attraction is the 315 room Piece Hall which was built in 1779 for all the handloom weavers of the district to display and sell their wares every Saturday. All the rooms are reputed to be fire proof. These days all sorts of retail outlets occupy the building and the open park like centre is used as a concert venue.

The courtyard of Piece Hall. There are 315 rooms around the square. The courtyard is used as a concert venue.Wrought iron gate entry into Piece Hall. Anybody know latin?

Out along Commercial Street there is is the Victoria Theatre building at one end dating back to 1901 and at the other is the old Lloyds Bank building where if you go around the back there are some beautiful stained glass windows. All the buildings in this area are all of the same Victorian era grandeur.

Old Market arcade, Halifax. The Theatre building is on the left.

Across the other side of town is the Parish Church of St John the Baptist. The church is black, not from chimney soot and grime but because of the soft sand stone it has been built with, naturally weathering to this colour giving it a rather evil look. The present building has been there since 1438 but a church has stood on this site for 900 years. The font cover dates back to medieval times and is supposed to be the finest example in England. The 1st battalion, Duke of Wellingtons regimental colours are also stored and displayed here.

Parish church of St John the Baptist in Halifax. It's not dirty just natural weathering of soft sandstone. The Rose window in the Parish Church of St John the Baptist in Halifax. Parish church of St John the Baptist in Halifax. Newly completed cross stitch in the foyer. Regimental colours of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment from the Battle of Waterloo.

Ancient Heptonstall.

After nearly 24 hours of wind and rain this morning dawned fine and sunny. A good day for some sightseeing. We had heard about the village of Heptonstall on the hill above Hebden Bridge being a quaint original village so we thought we would pay it a visit. There is no direct public transport from Todmorden so we had to change buses at Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge. We got a big surprise when the bus to Heptonstall arrived because it was a double decker, most buses on village routes are generally small 30 seater’s to be able to negotiate the narrow lanes.

Heptonstall Military Museum? Not really, it's the front of the local laundrette.

Travelling back along the road we had already travelled over from Todmorden, the driver went past the road to Heptonstall to a turning circle where he could turn and head back. The reason being is that the right turn is so sharp large vehicles cannot make the turn in one go as it‘s about a 160deg turn coming back on themselves. In fact the right turn has been banned completely to avoid traffic delays making all vehicles use the turning circle. The road up to Heptonstall is narrow and very steep, once you reach the village there is only inches clearance between the sides of the bus and guttering and down pipes on the houses. In the main part of the village the streets are still cobbled which only came about by resident’s complaints over the road having been tar sealed against their wishes.

Main street Heptonstall.

There is a Heptonstall Trail through the village and an information booklet put out by the Pennine Heritage & Hebden Bridge History Society to guide you. John on Nb Epiphany kindly loaned us his copy of the guide. There is so much that I could write about this village it would take me a week so I will give you the highlights. The first thing we spotted was what appeared to be a small military museum which turned out to be the local laundrette. The owner had 3 shop dummies dressed in military uniforms plus a lot of military paraphernalia in the front of the premises with the laundrette out the back.

Heptonstall's town water supply until early 1900's

There are 2 churches and cemeteries on the one site, one was destroyed in a storm in 1847. It was patched up until the new church was completed in 1854 and then just left to deteriorate. Remnants of the villages 4 public water pumps can still be found and at the top of the hill is the towns present water supply reservoir.

Stoodley Pike, 120' monument to the fall of Napoleon.

The village has a history of hand loom weaving and there are still the old weavers cottages dating back to c.1800. The last hand loom weaver in the Pennines lived here and died in 1902. Another facet of the village was its 5 public houses or Inn’s, only 2 of which still survive to this day. We had lunch in the Cross Inn which has a history dating back 300 years and involved expansion into 2 adjoining cottages which lay empty for quite a while.

Weavers cottages Heptonstall, Yorkshire. The last weaver died in 1902.

A darker side to the local history was that of David Hartley (King David) and his gang. In 1770 David was hanged for a counterfeiting conspiracy which caused the massive devaluation of currency of the realm. Apparently he and his gang had “Clipped and Stamped” coins which involved clipping little pieces off genuine coins, smelting it and then producing forged coins. His body lays in the Heptonstall church cemetery.

Ruins of St Thomas A Becket church, Heptonstall.

Once we had walked through the village we carried on to the top of the hill (Crown Point) where the 360deg view is nothing less than stunning especially on a fine day. Across the valley could be seen the 120’ high “Stoodley Pike” which was erected in 1856 as a monument to replace a previous structure commemorating the Peace of Ghent, the fall of Paris and abdication of Napoleon. There is also the significance that the Duke of Wellington who defeated Napoleon had his regiment based at nearby Halifax (which we plan to visit tomorrow)

Views around Heptonstall, Yorkshire from the top deck of a bus.

Graffiti or Art?

An elaborate piece of bridge graffiti

Todmorden’s Toy & Model Museum.

On the Lancashire Yorkshire border.

First job of the day was to help John on Nb Epiphany up through lock 18 to the BW service point for water which is only a couple of hundred yards beyond the lock. Once this chore had been completed he reversed back  lock where I had set the lock with the gate open. I had become aware of a hire boat at the bottom of the lock and just assumed quite wrongly that he would wait his turn. The next thing I saw was a young man opening the paddle on the bottom gates and here I am standing there with the top gate open.Needless to say this guy was yelled at in no uncertain manner to shut the paddle and leave it alone.

Todmorden Wharf, Rochdale Canal.

Once we had John and another boat in the lock he approached me complaining about being verbally abused to which I apologised but pointed out the error of his ways. I don’t think he had been been given any instructions by the boat yard on locking. I then showed him what to do and hoped that the message would get through to avoid any further possible disasters.

The front of Todmorden Town Hall which sits on the Lancashire, Yorkshire Border.

To make the most of the Autumn sunshine we walked into town to look for the Toy & Model Museum that we had read about on the information board near the moorings. When we found it the sign on the door stated closed Mon-Wed, ah drat. Dot wandered on while I dragged my heels reading the adverts on the museum door. All of a sudden the door flew open and an eccentric looking gentleman invited me in stating he was only doing some book work. By this time Dot was well out of earshot so I thought that I would have a quick look to see if it was worth a second visit. Basically it is a toy shop with new and used stock which is not very well displayed. The museum as he calls it is in another room and the basement. Here again the exhibits are of vintage and interesting origin but displayed they are not. Shelves and boxes piled up all over the place to which you can just rummage through to see what there is. The only organised displays were some Mamod model steam engines connected up to a compressed air supply to get them to work, an original Hornby Dublo tin plate three rail display layout and a “N” gauge layout that he was storing for a friend who is moving house. Thankfully there was no entry fee but I did spot a decorative hanging plate that I knew Dot had been looking for hanging up with a price tag attached (Not really a toy or model but it was second hand) which I relieved him of.

Dot's newly acquired Limited Edition Centenary Wedgewood plate.

As we will be in the area for a few days until Fiona is discharged from hospital and we travel together down the Rochdale Canal we will have a look around the local area in the meantime.